Norwegian Dawn, Carnival Dream or Carnival Freedom

[NCteacherlovescruising]

I think we have narrowed our search to these 3 cruises:

 

Carnival Dream~7 nights, from Port Canaveral to Nassau, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten

 

Carnival Freedom~8 nights, from Ft. Lauderdale to St. Thomas, Antigua, Tortola, and Nassau (2 1/2 hour longer drive from home)

 

Norwegian Dawn~7 nights, from Tampa Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya, and Cozumel

 

Which would you choose and why? If it makes any difference, we would be sailing in late Feb. 2014

[MrBanana1240]

I want to try the Dawn. Beautiful ports, so pretty we booked the Carnival Glory. The Dream has small pools and doesn't get stellar reviews a lot. I love the class Freedom is in and that itinerary is by far the best, but you said its 2 1/2 hours more from home, so if that is not a problem, do that. But I want to try Dawn so do the Dawn if Freedom is in availiable.

[Dare2Believe]

I've been on the NCL Dawn and the Carnival Freedom - both great ships!! I really liked the alternative dining options on the Dawn, and she had a nice clean look...then again, we loved the Freedom as well..

 

Always wanted to see Cozumel, so my vote would have to be for the Dawn in this case, but you can't go wrong with either ship in my opinion!

[lucy2mb]

The eastern Caribbean is not our favorite but we do love the Dream. If there are children, they will love the Dream. We have also been on the Freedom and loved it too. I like the 8 night cruises and really like the ports you would go to on the Freedom, so I would probably choose the Freedom. Tortola and Antigua are very nice. Have never been on the Dawn but do like those ports except for Costa Maya.

[legion3]

Dawn is what we are doing this december. Last year did the Legend, similar sized vessel and almost the same ports of call. Looking forward to seeing the difference between the two.

 

Of the remaining two however, I would do the freedom's 8 day trip, one for the extra day and two, the ports are more interesting to me.

 

I prefer Tampa as a city and a port over CC or Ft.L but...would go to them if its where I had to go. All are 3 hours or less, by car, for us.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

The eastern Caribbean is not our favorite but we do love the Dream. If there are children, they will love the Dream. We have also been on the Freedom and loved it too. I like the 8 night cruises and really like the ports you would go to on the Freedom, so I would probably choose the Freedom. Tortola and Antigua are very nice. Have never been on the Dawn but do like those ports except for Costa Maya.

 

My husband and I will be going alone this time.

[Luvtoeat]

We were on the Dream in July and did the eastern Carib. It was really nice being on a fairly new ship but at times did seem a little crowded. Have been to these ports many times but still enjoy each visit. Was on the Dawn about 4 years ago and did an 11 night southern Carib. The freesyle concept is great and did not have to get dressed up at all for the entire cruise. Lunch buffet on the Dawn had many more items but the dinners were not as good. I was looking at the Dawn for a cruise this winter since we live only 25 minutes from the port but I though the prices were way to high. Will be going on the Legend next month since getting a free cabin letter from Carnival.

[grrl2grrl]

I have done the Dawn's itenary on the Legend out of Tampa many years ago. I did the Dream a year and a half ago with the same itenary. I am booked to sail on the Freedom this December with that itenerary... So all in all you can't go wrong in my opinion!

 

All of the iteneraries hold their charm for me...

In Grand Cayman we did a ship excursion called Shipwreck Snuba. One of my top 5 most fun things to do in my life. I came face to face with an ugly snarly grouper in a hole, talk about adrenaline! In Belize we did a non ship tour of Cave Tubing with Major Tom. Relaxing, but fun and our guide was entertaining. We also got to see a bit of the Belize countryside traveling quite a ways inland. Tampa was the easiest port for us, as we live 40 minutes away from the port so we had a friend drop and pick us off, and we were familiar with the town. You're not taking the same ship so I'll leave that review out.

 

In St. Maartin we did the America's cup yacht race. It was wonderfully fun, as I'd never been on a yacht before, much less learn to work and race one. The water was so beautiful here. Maybe the bluest and clearest I've ever seen. I almost wanted to "fall" off the yacht while listing just so I could be in the beautiful water. I didn't though, and we won the race! In St. Thomas we went snorkeling in St. John. It was nice, but when we go back on the Freedom we'll do something else. Canaveral is an easy port, functions well & quickly. Parking on site or off is easy too. The Dream is beautiful, but like the previous poster mentioned the pools are crowded, and they got nasty with people funk rather quickly. I watched a little girl (unsupervised) sneeze in the hot tub I was in... We left quickly & I will avoid pools on ships - not that I usually use those facilities anyway. I loved the comedy shows and the fun force dancers!

I can't comment yet about Fort Lauderdale's port or the Freedom, but we chose this cruise because of the ports and the extra day, it will make up for the extra driving...

 

Good luck on your decision, I don't know that I helped make your decision any easier... I've never met a cruise I didn't like & I'd sure rather be on one right now.

[Tapi]

Based solely on itinerary, I'd go with the Dawn.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

I thought the Dream would be nicest ship but if it's crowded I don't think my husband would like it. Maybe we should mark it off the list.

 

Eight days sounds great but that's also an extra day we are leaving our son alone, although I really don't think he cares. Those ports sound the most appealing to me. This is most expensive, but it's negligible.

 

It sounds like a lot of people like the itinerary for the Dawn... We had another cruise (Conquest out of Miami) on our list that went to Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Belize and Roatan but we eliminated it. It was the cheapest by over $150...maybe we should be considering that instead of the Dream.

 

Apparently NCL is normally more expensive than Carnival. We found a great buy through Costco Travel on the Dawn. Even before the extra's ($50 on board credit and a free bottle of wine), it's a little cheaper than the Carnival cruises.

[marym933]

Why not consider the Legend from Tampa? You can't go wrong with her.

 

We did the Dawn last March. Absolutely, the worst food I have ever had on a cruise ship in a main dining room. My sister and brother-in-law went with us. It was only their second cruise. They felt the same.

 

The Dawn has much smaller cabins than the Legend.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

Why not consider the Legend from Tampa? You can't go wrong with her.

 

We did the Dawn last March. Absolutely, the worst food I have ever had on a cruise ship in a main dining room. My sister and brother-in-law went with us. It was only their second cruise. They felt the same.

 

The Dawn has much smaller cabins than the Legend.

 

I looked the Legend up after reading this. It's a little more expensive than the Liberty and Conquest with the same ports. Although it's closer to home, we would lose an hour at a couple of ports. Does it have the 2.0 upgrades? What do you like so well about her?

[Tapi]

We found a great buy through...

 

Don't mention travel agencies on Cruise Critic. It's against the rules. You'll get your hand slapped, points deducted and thread deleted by the moderators. :(

[NCteacherlovescruising]

Don't mention travel agencies on Cruise Critic. It's against the rules. You'll get your hand slapped, points deducted and thread deleted by the moderators. :(

 

Oops! :eek: :o Sorry!! It's too late for me to edit now.

[marym933]

I looked the Legend up after reading this. It's a little more expensive than the Liberty and Conquest with the same ports. Although it's closer to home, we would lose an hour at a couple of ports. Does it have the 2.0 upgrades? What do you like so well about her?

 

I love the Spirit class ships. I've been on the Miracle and Legend. They are easy to navigate and just the right size, not too big or small. She was in dry dock in 2011 and is not scheduled for another one until 2014 before she relocates to Australia in September 2014.

 

We chose the Dawn last time because of the itinerary. I wanted to go to Costa Maya instead of Grand Cayman. I wish I had stayed with the Legend. Our expectations were not realized with the Dawn. The food was good the first day, then got progressively worse. They have a game show called Deal or No Deal that they sell cards to you for $20. This is the early entertainment 2 evenings.

 

Word of warning - if there is a large number of ships in Cozumel, the Dawn will anchor off shore and you will tender in lifeboats. It was a total nightmare. The tendering was stopped because of rough seas. We were stuck in line in Cozumel for 1 1/2 hours trying to get back on the ship. They waited for the RCCL Oasis of the Seas to leave so we could have that berth. While we were standing there, NCL gave us no information. Word of mouth advised what was happening. They finally came out with some cool clothes, water and frozen popsicles. I know all this isn't NCL's fault, but it made me not want to go on another NCL ship.

[MaraBerk]

Freedom, best itenary IMO

Dawn

Dream

[grrl2grrl]

I looked the Legend up after reading this. It's a little more expensive than the Liberty and Conquest with the same ports. Although it's closer to home, we would lose an hour at a couple of ports. Does it have the 2.0 upgrades? What do you like so well about her?

 

I also love the spirit class ships. I've been on the Legend and the Spirit. I agree that my #1 favorite part is ease of getting around the ship as marym933 said. On our sailing before we exited the ship for home the Cruise Director gave his speach about all the info to disembark, he asked the crowd how many children did we think were on board. I guessed 30. As I was sure I saw about 15 in one place (they did a dress up costume parade at some point) and I'm sure at least that many were at the pool, so I thought it was a pretty good guess... There were just over 200 kids on board our sailing. Not that I mind kids at all, I just didn't see them... It also didn't feel like there were as many people on board, even though she sailed at full capacity. I guess that may also just be due to the lay out, things don't get congested or difficult, so everyone is busy having a great time doing their own thing, and there's something for everyone.

 

You'd think that would be true for every cruise, but it's only the spirit class that made me feel like sometimes I had the ship to myself. The Dream didn't feel over crowded to me, there was always a deck chair to be sat in, even during the movies by the pool, i never had a problem getting in the spa's thelassotherapy pool. Only one of the sea days were all of the heated loungers overlooking the front of the ship occuppied. I could still get a heated lounger, just not with the amazing view. So it felt like there were more people, but I never felt claustrophobic, or even like something I wanted I couldn't have. Hmm... Unless when you cruia you love to go swimming.... Too many kids unsupervised on the Dream. I don't usually go in the pools on a ship, this was my first, and most likely my last for any ship because I watched a kid get in the hot tub and sneeze snot all over the water... We quickly exited, but by the end of the cruise we were sick. The Dream is newer, and the ports are better, imho, so unless the pools are make or break for you, don't let the crowding comments scare you away. I didn't have any problems with crowds.

 

Everytime I write to you, hoping to provide insight that helps, but unfortunately, I feel like I'm not making any of the choices front runners... I suppose that means you really can't go wrong (except for the Dawn's food choices as per marym933).

 

If I'm choosing by ship ammenities I would sail the Dream.

If I'm choosing for comfort and relaxing qualities of the ship I'd choose the Legend.

For me, if given the choice of the 2 ships the Dream would win out. I like her ports better, and the Spa wins for me every time, I would be in the mineral pool evey day! I'm not interested in much of the spa's features, but I love that minal pool, it's magic!

 

So if deciding by ship, Dream wins.

If deciding by ports Dream or the Freedom, which I haven't sailed yet.

If deciding by convenience, the Dream would win as she's closer for you.

I'm sorry, but I wouldn't even consider the NCL one myself, and that itenerary is worth doing, but it is my least favorite out of all my cruises.